CLAIRE CV
Performance & Artistic Direction: over 20 years of experience in solo & chamber performance in Australia and Europe, ensemble leading (Artistic Director Ensemble Offspring), programming, curation, marketing, audience development, tour management, philanthropic development
Awards - awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2022(OAM) for services to music, was recipient of an Art Music Award for Excellence by an Individual 3 times (2007, 2012, 2016) + Ensemble Offspring recipient of Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award (2019) and State Luminary Art Music Award (2021)
Mentoring & Teaching: Sydney Conservatorium of Music Percussion & Composition teacher, regular mentoring and lessons for tertiary and post tertiary artists
Funding applications: many years of experience with successful government funding applications & organisational budgets ($500K-1 million turnover)
Commissioning: Ensemble Offspring have commissioned over 300 new works from emerging and established Australian and international composers and as a soloist almost 50 works have been commissioned and premiered
Advocacy & Public Speaking: Vice president New Music Network (2015-2016), Australian Keychange Ambassador (2020-current), Donne Women in Music Ambassador (2021), arts political lobbying through #freethearts and AMPAG, chaired Gender Equity panel at Classical:Next (2019 - Rotterdam), Board Member Ensemble Offspring (2017-present), Australia Council nominated peer (2017 & 2021), regular media & radio appearances
“With my years of experience pushing musical boundaries and creating unique projects in Australia and overseas, what I have to offer the next generation of Australian artists is something quite unique. I can offer practical insights into all the steps required to present a successful concert or tour from the grass roots funding application level, to pitching to potential private donors for support, to pitching to festivals, to budgeting (and sticking to it), to producing and marketing the product and finally of course musically what’s required to present it! I can also offer important insights into the process involved in commissioning and working with a broad range of composers as well as collaborators outside of music in art forms including theatre, opera, visual arts, video art and dance. You will come away from a mentorship with me with a broad understanding of why it’s so important to be aware of gender equity in your programming and you may even find yourself a Keychange signatory at the end of the process (which just means you pledge some gender equity targets over a period of time). I also have a lot of contacts in the Australian music scene and straddle genres in terms of my networks - I share my knowledge generously.”
EDUCATION
Undergraduate (1994-1997)
Sydney Conservatorium of Music (BMusHon1) Student of the Year
Teachers: Daryl Pratt (percussion), Richard Miller (timpani), Ian Cleworth (snare drum)
Postgraduate (1999-2003)
Rotterdam Conservatorium (Masters Honours)
Teachers: Richard Jansen (percussion), Hans Leenders (marimba)
Amsterdam Conservatorium (Masters)
Teachers: Peter Prommel (marimba), Nick Woud (timpani), Jan Pustjens (snare drum)
Courses/Masterclasses (2000-2005): Steven Schick (Acanthe Academy, France), Kroumata Academy (Sweden), Leigh Howard Stevens Masterclasses (Amsterdam Conservatorium), Michael Burritt (Banff Centre, Canada)
AWARDS, PRIZES & GRANTS
2022 Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to music
2021 Limelight Artist of the Year nominee
2021 State Art Music Luminary Award (Ensemble Offspring)
2019 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for an Organisation (Ensemble Offspring)
2016 AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Excellence by an Individual
2016 AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Excellence by an Organisation (Ensemble Offspring)
2016 VIVID NSW Creative Awards (Ensemble Offspring Shortlisted)
2016 Classical Next Innovation Award (Ensemble Offspring Shortlisted)
2015 AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Work of the Year (Ensemble Offspring - The Secret Noise)
2014 Australia Council Music Fellowship (2014/2015)
2012 AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Excellence (Flash Solo CD Project)
2011 AMC/APRA Art Music Awards Award for Best Performance (Ensemble Offspring - The Origin Cycle)
2007 AMC/APRA Art Music Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual (Duyfken Project)
2005 Gaudeamus International Interpreters Competition 3rd Prize (The Netherlands)
2004 Banff Centre Residency (Canada)
2001 Llangollen International Instrumentalist 1st Prize (Wales, UK)
2001 Queen Elizabeth Trust grant for postgraduate study
2000 Tromp Percussion Competition 1st Prize (The Netherlands)
1999 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year (Australia)
1999 NUFFIC Huygens Dutch Government grant for postgraduate study (The Netherlands)
1997 Student of The Year, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
1997 Big Brother Scholarship (for travel in the UK)
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS (AUSTRALIA)
2021 Adelaide Festival, Chamber Landscapes Ukaria
2021 Steve Reich Drumming at 50 - Ensemble Offspring Sunset Piazza presented by Sydney Festival
2019 Mona Foma Festival - Polytopes Xenakis with Robin Fox and Ensemble Offspring
2018 James MacMillan 2nd Percussion Concerto - Sydney Symphony Orchestra & David Robertson, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
2016 Australian String Quartet – Soloist Hindson WP & Adams, National Tour 1
2015 Canberra Symphony Orchestra – Golden Kitsch by Elena Kats-Chernin conductor Nicholas Milton
2015 Shanghai New Music Week - Ensemble Offspring ensemble in residence
2015 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra – World Premiere Iain Grandage Dances with Devils conductor Benjamin Northey
2015 Canberra Festival of Chamber Music appearances with Amy Dickson (saxophone) and Ensemble Offspring
2015 Sydney Festival Solo Recitals The Sound of Burning Water – featuring new commission by Marcus Whale
2014 Vivid Sydney Solo Marimba Recital Marimba Trance – featuring new commission by Alex Pozniak
2012 Sunken Dreams - Song Company solo artist in a national touring program of arrangements for vibraphone and voices
2009 Gitimalya Marimba Concerto by Toru Takemitsu, Sydney Symphony, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
2007 Soundscapes Percussion Concerto composed and conducted by Richard Mills, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Town Hall
PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS (EUROPE/USA)
2019 Music on Main Solo Residency - Vancouver
2019 Collaboration with International Contemporary Ensemble & Ensemble Adapter - Berlin
2019 Classical Next Showcase performance - Ensemble Offspring (Rotterdam)
2000-2019 Gaudeamus Festival (Utrecht)
2002/2005 Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music – solo recitals
2004 Radio Chamber Orchestra soloist Unsuk Chin Double Concerto (Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam conductor Peter Eotvos)
2003 The Axe Manual Harrison Birtwistle European tour with Nicolas Hodges (piano) (Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Groningen, Cologne)
2002 Amsterdam Sinfonietta – soloist Black Wind by Kim Bowman
2001 Het Brabants Orkest – soloist Veni Veni Emmanuel by James McMillan
2001 Slagwerk Groep Den Haag – soloist James Wood Spirit Festival with Fire
2000-2002 Ictus Ensemble/Rosa’s – European Steve Reich tours
INSTITUTIONAL TEACHING HISTORY
2010-2021 Sydney Conservatorium of Music - Percussion Staff (with Kevin Mann and Shaun Trubiano)
2016 & 2020 ANU Ensemble Offspring ensemble-in-residence
2014-2016 ANAM regular guest teacher, mentor and lecturer
2011-2020 Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Composition Dept) Composer Performer Workshop Tutor/Percussion for Composers Tutor
2007 Victorian College of the Arts (Acting Head Percussion)
TV & RADIO APPEARANCES
2021 MVA Chamber of Musical Curiosities Podcast interview with Paul Kildea
2021 Interviews with Andrew Ford, The Music Show
2020 Interview with Tamara Anna Cislowska Duet ABC
2020 Interview with Tom Service BBCRadio 1
2016 Playschool host with Eddie Perfect
2015 Playschool ‘Carnival of the Animals’ appearance with Justine Clarke
2016 Mairi Nicholson Music Makers guest
2015 ABC Classic FM Margaret Throsby Midday Interview guest
2014 Lah Lah’s Big Live Band TV Show guest
2013 Playschool ‘Shake Rattle & Roll’
2007 ABC, Spicks & Specks panelist
2003 MTV, Holland with Duo Vertigo (MTV Fusion, Het Concertgebouw)
2002 AVRO Dutch TV, Grachten Festival, Amsterdam (Soloist opening the festival)
2002 BBC Wales, History of 20th Century Music documentary hosted by Huw Edwards , performing Rebonds A by Iannis Xenakis
1999 ABC Young Performers Award finalist and winner (live broadcast ABC)
CD CATALOGUE
2021 Rhythms of Change (solo) Move
2017-2021 Offspring Bites 1, 2 & 3 (Ensemble Offspring)
2019 & 2020 Women of Note ABC Classic
2018 Music for the Dreaming (Ensemble Offspring) ABC Classic
2017 Clairaudient (solo) Move
2016 Kammerbox (solo/chamber) ABC Classics
2015 Cycles & Circles (Ensemble Offspring)
2015 ONE (solo) Tall Poppies
2014 The Secret Noise (Ensemble Offspring) Curious Noise
2013 Flash (solo) Tall Poppies
2010 Coil (solo) Tall Poppies
2007 Vertigo One (Duo Vertigo) Karnatic Lab Records
2005 The Axe Manual (Nicolas Hodges) Metronome Label
2002 Young Performer’s Solo Disc ABC Classics
HIGHLIGHT MEDIA QUOTES
“Edwardes’ is certainly a driving, committed and powerful performance…it is this committed approach that most clearly argues for the possibilities of new directions in writing for percussion into the twenty-first century.” Tempo Magazine
“…thanks particularly to powerhouse playing from Edwardes.” The Australian
“The program was an intriguing window into Edwardes’ enterprise, energy and continuously renewing creative engagement.” Sydney Morning Herald
“…played as ever with Edwardes’ capacity for finesse and passion – Xenakis’ music might be conceived in part algorithmically but she makes its beauty self-evident.” RealTime
“Edwardes’ is certainly a driving, committed and powerful performance…it is this committed approach that most clearly argues for the possibilities of new directions in writing for percussion into the twenty-first century.” Tempo Magazine
“To say she is virtuosic is redundant: she’s more transforming what must clearly look promising on manuscript into sonorous, shimmering aural opulence.” The Australian Stage
“Sorceress of percussion, Claire Edwardes, infused the performance with her particular magic.” Canberra Times